CompuServe Messages

Sanford, the point of providing an open architecture for 3D graphics is that animators only need to purchase the routines that they need to get a specific job done, instead of having to pay a huge amount of money out of the gate. This is the core of the entire component software concept which is being made possible by object-oriented programming tools and new operating systems. If your client asks you to do a metaballs effect, you can charge the client another $500 for the tools. Then you've got those tools for life. (Likewise with Bones, Puppeteer, or any other IPAS routine.) The individual cost of the routines is low enough that you can build it into a bid and the client won't blink. BTW, with Wavefront, if you want skeletal animation you have to pay an order of magnitude more for it. There's a big difference there. In the future, we'll all see professional applications migrate towards looking more like operating systems. – G